Middlesbrough 0 - Cardiff 2: Malky Mackay gets mo-Joe back

He was the last man and should have been sent off and they had no goalkeeper on the bench

Cardiff boss Malky Mackay

The striker, just 20, replaced crocked Kenny Miller in just the sixth minute and fired a crucial second in the 19th.

Last season Swansea timed their play-off push perfectly and won at Wembley to claim a place in the Premier League.

Twelve months on and another Welsh side may be getting ready to do the same.

Like several promotion rivals, Malky Mackay’s men have stuttered lately.

But this victory marked a dramatic improvement in the Bluebirds’ form and lifted them back above Brighton into the final play-off place.

Ben Turner opened the scoring in the 11th minute and Mason’s strike was just reward for a dominant early display.

Middlesbrough, though, have now gone seven matches without a win and will surely have to claim all three points at Hull tomorrow if they are not to drop out of the play-off picture entirely.

Cardiff should have been playing against ten men from the third minute with Middlesbrough keeper Jason Steele extremely lucky not to be sent off for a blatant foul on Miller.

The Scotsman was clean through when Steele chopped him down on the edge of the area and referee Kevin Friend should have blown for a free-kick that would have seen Steele dismissed.

Boro, who had no substitute keeper, breathed a massive sigh of relief, and they were lucky again in the tenth minute when Mason’s curling shot beat Steele but bounced to safety off the underside of the bar.

Cardiff might have thought it was not going to be their day but 60 seconds later they were deservedly ahead.

Liam Lawrence’s corner found centre-half Turner who swivelled on the edge of the six-yard box before heading home.

Boro’s defence collapsed again when Mason found himself in space on the right edge of the penalty area and, after twisting past a hapless Joe Bennett, he drilled a fierce low shot past Steele.